A Blog about different types of living beings ranging from exotic animals & interesting creatures to rare insects, naughty reptiles and large mammals, etc. - along with anything else that relates to nature, gardening...

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Dick Proenneke: Alone in the Wilderness

"Alone in the Wilderness" is the story of Dick Proenneke living in
Alaska at Twin Lakes. This film shows a man living on pristine land that
is unchanged by man, while being alone in a type of wilderness that few
people would dare to challenge. Dick selected this type of peaceful
setting even though it had brutally cold winters in which provided the
serenity of stillness, at times. This DVD is so enjoyable to watch and
it has a calming effect to it, if you enjoy this type of stuff. Just to
see a person living off the land (for the most part - outside of the
occasional delivery of certain products like granulated sugar, etc.) and
having to put in all the hard work like cutting all of their wood,
building their own cabin, making their own utensils while catching their
fish, killing certain wild animals and growing their own food, all
while documenting and narrating the chain of events during the process,
is truly aesthetically pleasing to watch. For one to achieve such
things, not only did a person need to be an excellent craftsman (and a
great carpenter he was), but they had to also be very content with one's
own thoughts and company...

This was a dream come true and a lifetime challenge for Dick Proenneke,
that he ultimately lived out. What was going to be a 1 to 1.5 year
project, turned into 30 years of outdoor peacefulness and pleasant,
self-fulfilling adventures. He didn't leave the wilderness of Twin Lakes
until he was 82 years old! He mentioned that the -40 (Fahrenheit) and
-50 degree winters were starting to get hard on his joints. After
returning to civilization at age 82, he died 4 years later from a
stroke, at age 86.

Although this movie will not be for everyone, since not everybody seems
to enjoy nature nowadays, if you are looking for some soothing outdoor
explorations in a beautiful Alaskan setting, you'll love this flick!
Alone in the Wilderness is the only film that featured Dick Proenneke
that I have watched, but they also made a couple more (not including the
Part 2, to this one) that was related to this one: "Alaska, Silence and
Solitude" and "The Frozen North." The DVD for this show seems to be
priced fairly high at the moment, so you may want to watch a short clip
on YouTube (it skips around through various parts and leaves out most of
the film), to get a better sense of what type of flick this is and/or
to see whether or not this style of documentary is for you: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss